Monolithic structural member for foundation or ceiling system

ABSTRACT

A STRUCTURAL MEMBER FOR FOUNDATION OR CEILING SYSTEMS COMPRISING A MONOLITHIC BODY OF SHEET MATERIAL, PREFERABLY COMPOSED OF A SYNTHETIC RESIN THAT MAY BE READILY SHAPED BY VACUUM FORMING OR OTHER SUITABLE TECHINQUES. ALIGNED ROWS OF HOLLOW, QUADRILATERAL, GENERALLY FRUSTOPYRAMIDAL ELEMENTS PROJECT UPWARDLY FROM THE BASE PLANE OF THE BODY AND PRESENT SPACED, LOAD-SUPPORTING SURFACES THAT DEFINE THE MOUNTING CENTERS FOR THE OVERLYING FLOOR OR ROOF. ACCORDINGLY, THE BASE OF THE BODY PRESENTS A GRID OF SURFACES ON ITS UNDERSIDE AT THE MOUTHS OF THE CAVITIES FORMED BY THE HOLLOW SUPPORT ELEMENTS. IN A FOUNDATION SYSTEM, THE BASE GRID DIRECTLY OVERLIES A PAD OF SAND, SLIT OR GRAVEL CHIPS TO SEAL EACH INDIVIDUAL CAVITY AND THEREBY TRAP AIR THEREIN TO ESTABLISH AIR POCKETS OF RESISTANCE TO LOAD. A SINGLE CHAMBER IS FORMED BENEATH THE OVERLYING FLOOR BETWEEN THE UPSTANDING SUPPORT ELEMENTS TO PROVIDE A NETWORK OF INTERCOMMUNICATING CHASES FOR PLUMBING AND ELECTRICAL RUNS, AND DEFINE A DUCT BENEATH SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE FLOOR FOR HEATING AND AIRCONDIDTIONING PURPOSES.

J. P. SKINNER Dec. 7, 1971 MONOLITHIC STRUCTURAL MEMBER FOR FOUNDATIONOR CEILING SYSTEM Filed Sept. 25, 1969 2 Shoots-Shoot 1 IN vmr/ 1 JeraldPaul Skinner ,4 T TORN/f Yb.

Dec. 7, 1971 J. P. SKINNER 3,624,978

MONOLITHIC STRUCTURAL MEMBER FOR FOUNDATION OR CEILING SYSTEM I FiledSept. 25, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet r 1 I Q Q S u k l 3 I ATTORNE-YS.

United States Patent F U.S. Cl. 52-265 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A structural member for foundation or ceiling systemscomprising a monolithic body of sheet material, preferably composed of asynthetic resin that may be readily shaped by vacuum forming or othersuitable techniques. Aligned rows of hollow, quadrilateral, generallyfrustopyramidal elements project upwardly from the base plane of thebody and present spaced, load-supporting surfaces that define themounting centers for the overlying floor or roof. Accordingly, the baseof the body presents a grid of surfaces on its underside at the mouthsof the cavities formed by the hollow support elements. In a foundationsystem, the base grid directly overlies a pad of sand, silt or gravelchips to seal each individual cavity and thereby trap air therein toestablish air pockets of resistance to load. A single chamber is formedbeneath the overlying floor between the upstanding support elements toprovide a network of intercommunicating chases for plumbing andelectrical runs, and define a duct beneath substantially the entirefloor for heating and airconditioning purposes.

This invention relates to structural systems for facilitating the rapidconstruction of structural foundations and complete dwellings andbuildings, and also to a monolithic structural member comprising theload-bearing component of foundation and ceiling systems.

At the present time, it is common practice in the mobile home industryto utilize poured concrete foundations for mobile home installations,much in the same manner as for permanent dwellings. This necessarilyrequires that the site be excavated, forms set in place, and theconcrete poured all at a substantial cost relative to the cost and oftentransitory nature of a mobile home. Furthermore, weather conditions andthe availability of labor, as well as the actual time required tocomplete the job, place severe limitations on the speed at which suchfoundations can be constructed.

Furthermore, with the availability of housing becoming increasinglyacute due to an insuflicient number of housing starts relative to therate of population expansion, it is imperative that structural systemsbe available for permanent dwellings and permanent building applicationsthat both facilitate rapid construction and are relatively inexpensive.Certain steps have been taken in the past to alleviate the situation,such as module design and the use of prefabricated structural componentswherever possible. However, still the basic design of most permanentstructures in the housing field has not changed radically in centuries,and certainly not in proportion to technological advancement in themechanical and electrical arts and materials technology.

It is, therefore, an important object of the present invention toprovide structural systems capable of significantly decreasing the timerequired to erect a dwelling or building and a reduced cost as comparedwith existing construction techniques.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a foundationsystem for a mobile home or permanent structure wherein excavation ofthe site is not required, nor the setting of forms or the driving ofpiles or other time consuming and expensive construction techniques, andyet which is fully capable of supporting the overlying load structure.

Still another important object of the invention is to provide afoundation system as aforesaid which allows excessive loading onunsubstantial soil and which may be utilized in the permafrost region orin marshy areas.

Still another important object is to provide a foundation system asaforesaid which establishes load-resisting air pockets to preventsettling.

Furthermore, it is an important object of this invention to provide afoundation system as aforesaid which provides a network ofintercommunicating chases beneath the floor to facilitate rapidimplacement of plumbing and electrical runs and carry warm or cool airto suitable registers in the structure without the need for elaborateand expensive ductwork.

Yet another important object of the invention is to provide a monolithicstructural member for floor or ceiling systems which comprises theload-bearing component thereof and may be readily installed, and whichis specially shaped for a number of purposes which will become clear asthe detailed specification proceeds.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the structural member of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the member of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view of a home, apartment,or similar structure embodying the concepts of the present invention;and

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged, detail view showing the intersection ofthe interior wall and the ceiling member illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, the structural member of thepresent invention is broadly denoted 10 and comprises a monolithic bodyof formed sheet material. The member 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 isof rectangular configuration and is provided with two rows of fourhollow, raised, tapered elements 12, each of the elements 12 being ofquadrilateral, generally frustopyramidal configuration. The foursidewalls 14 of each element 12 thus converge toward the fiat top of theelement, and have major concave portions which are arcuate in thedirection of the taper. If it were not for the presence of the arcuateportions of the sidewalls 14, each of the elements 12 would comprise afrustum of a right, regular, quadrilateral pyramid. Accordingly, thebases of the elements 12 are square, and a square, load-supportingsurface 16 is presented by the flat top of each of the elements 12. Itshould be noted that the perimeter and area of each surface 16 is smallrelative to the base area of the element 12.

As is especially evident in FIG. 2, the elements 12 are regularly spacedin each row and with respect to elements of an adjacent row, thus thecenter-to-center spacing of the top surfaces 16 is uniform throughout.It may also be appreciated in FIG. 2 that the member 10, when viewed inplan, appears as a latice which presents a uniform grid enclosing theindividual elements 12. The grid is formed by longitudinal base portions18 and intersecting, orthogonal, transverse base portions 20. In theembodiment illustrated where two rows of four elements 12 are utilized,there are three such longitudinal base portions 18, two at thelongitudinal edges of the member 10 and one presenting a longitudinallyextending central strip between the two rows of elements 12.Accordingly, the base grid is completed by five transverse base portions20, two at the ends of the member 20 and three crossing the rows ofelements 12 between adjacent pairs of elements. For purposes ofreinforcement, a center,

longitudinal rib 22 projects upwardly and extends the length of thecenter longitudinal base portion 18, and transverse ribs 24 projectupwardly from the inside base portions 20 and extend the length thereof.

The ends of the rectangular member 10 are provided with upstanding,continuous end portions 26 which merge with upstanding, continuouslongitudinal edge portions 28, thereby reinforcing the entire peripheryof member 10. One of the end portions 26 is provided with a continuous,laterally projecting lip 30, and one of the longitudinal edge portions28 is provided with a similar continuous lip 32 which is integral withthe lip 30 at the common corner.

In FIG. 3 the member 10 is employed as the compressive load-bearingcomponent of a foundation system and is shown in vertical cross section.The section is taken transversely of the member 10 in a central planethrough the elements 12. As illustrated, several members 10 are disposedin side-by-side relationship with adjacent edge portions 28 abuttingeach other such that the lip 32 overlaps the edge portion 28 of theadjacent member 10 to interlock the side-by-side members. The members 10are preferably vacuum formed from a structurally strong thermoplasticsynthetic resins material. Possible alternatives include fiber glassreinforced synthetic resins and galvanized sheet steel. A thermoplasticthat can be readily vacuum formed or blow molded is preferable from thestandpoint of cost and ease of fabrication and, in foundation systems,synthetic resins are particularly desirable due to their resistance tothe effects of moisture, acids and fungus and extreme variations inambient temperature. Plastic sheet members 10 are readily joined toprovide a monolithic composite unit by the use of a solvent orothersuitable adhesive techniques at the abutting edge portions 28.

The foundation members 10 in FIG. 3 rest directly on a pad 34 comprisinga layer of sand, silt, or gravel chips of a fine grade such as used asasphaltic topping for highways. The earth 36 underlying the pad 34 isgraded to at least a rough grade (not more than approximately before thepad 34 is laid thereover. A concrete pier 38 is shown underlying onecorner of one of the members 10, a tubular leveler 40 being set in theconcrete pier 38 and provided with an adjustable head 42. Asillustrated, the head 42 is provided with a depending, threaded shank 44which is threadably received within the embedded tube 46 of the leveler40.

The longitudinal base portions 18 of the members are shown in crosssection in FIG. 3 and present longitudinally extending, lower surfaces48 in direct contact with the pad 34. Furthermore, the transverse baseportions 20 present elongated, transversely extending, lower surfaces 50which lie in a common plane with the surfaces 48 and thus also directlycontact the pad 34. The undersurface network thus formed comprises agrid of intersecting surfaces 48, 50 that cooperates with the substanceof the pad 34 to seal each of the downwardly facing cavities 52 definedby the individual elements 12. The mouth of each caviity 52 iscompletely circumscribed by segments of the base grid surfaces 48, 50,thus each of the cavities 52 is individually sealed to form an airpocket therewithin that is isolated from adjacent cavities 52 and fromthe ambient atmosphere.

The top side of the base portions 18 and 20, together with the surfacesof the sidewalls 14, are covered with a layer of insulating 54, such asa polyurethane foam. A subfloor 56 spans the load-supporting surfaces 16of the elements 12 and is secured thereto by a suitable adhesive, itbeing appreciated that a single chamber 58 is thereby formed beneath thesubfloor 56 between the spaced elements 12. This chamber 58 is closed atits sides as illustrated by the provision of an outer wall 60 secured tothe outside edge portion 28 and extending upwardly therefrom to thesubfioor 56. Therefore, the chamber 58 comprises a network of wide,unobstructed, intercommunicating chases or channels extending in a gridpattern between the elements 12 which project upwardly out of the planeof the base lattice.

A floor register is illustrated at 62 communicating with the underlyingchase of chamber 58, and forms a part of the heating andair-conditioning system (not shown) of the structure.

An interior wall 64 and the outer wall 60 extend upwardly to a ceilingand roof system utilizing structural members 10a identical in form andconfiguration to the members 10 previously described. It should be notedthat the longitudinal base portions 18a of the members 10a areconfigured to present raceways 66a, of semi-cylindrical configuration,such raceways 66a facing downwardly and communicating with the interiorspace 68 be tween the floor and ceiling of the structure. In FIG. 1, itmay be seen that a raceway 70 is similarly formed in the transverse baseportions 20, but these are not visible in FIG. 3. Although not normallyutilized in the foundation system, the raceways are advantageouslyemployed in the ceiling system as illustrated in FIG. 3, the upper edgeof the wall 64 being received within one of the raceways 66a. This isshown in detail in FIG. 4 where it may be seen that the upper edge ofthe wall 64 is provided with a track insert 72 that is complementallyreceived within the raceway 66a.

A roof skin 74 spans the top surface 16a of the ceiling members 10a andis formed with drainage gutters 76 communicating with openings 78 indecorative roof facia 80 that surrounds the roof skin 74. Layers ofinsulation 82 underly the skin 74 between the gutters 76, thus forming asimple and efficient roof arrangement supported by the members 10a. Thedownwardly facing cavities 52a formed by the upstanding elements 12a maybe left open for decorative ceiling effect, or closed by ceiling tile orthe like as illustrated at 84. Whether open or closed, the cavities 52aconveniently provide for the recessed mounting of lighting fixtures, andthe sidewalls 14a may be apertured at such fixtures to provideventilation necessary for heat dissipation. As in the foundation system,the single chamber 58a provides a network of intercommunicating chasesfor electorial and mechanical runs and return air flow (or supply, asthe case may be) in the heating and air-conditioning system.

The structure illustrated in FIG. 3 may be rapidly erected, primarilydue to the use of the monolithic members 10 and 10a as the load-bearingcomponents of the foundation and ceiling systems. At the outset, thesite is graded as discussed above and the piers and levelers 38 and 40are emplaced at the four corners of each foundation member 10. The piersdo not serve a loadsupporting function, but are utilized in conjunctionwith the levelers 40 to assure that the members 10 are level and toanchor such members to the ground as a safeguard against possibleshifting under high winds. Leveling is accomplished by adjusting thehead 42 of each leveler 40, a suitable bracket and fasteners asindicated at 86 being utilized to secure the member 10 and associatedwall 60 to the head 42 once the proper level attitude is obtained. Asindicated at 88, the perimeter grade around the structure can be raisedto hide the head 42 and bracket 46 from view.

When the compressive load of the overlying structure is ultimatelyapplied to the foundation members 10, the load is distributed by thegrid intersecting undersurfaces 48, 50 to prevent the members 10 fromsinking any significance into the pad 34. Furthermore, air pockets ofresistance to load are formed by the sealing of the individual cavities52 at the interface of the undersurface network and the pad 34.

The load-supporting surfaces 16 presented by the square tops of theelements 12 lie in a common plane parallel to the above-mentionedinterface. The centerto-center spacing of the surfaces 16 is onlyslightly larger than the maximum width between the elements 12 of thechases formed by the chamber 58. Therefore, with the relatively smallarea of the surfaces 16, the chamber 58 is available beneath the floor56 except at areas directly around the mounting centers presented by thesurfaces 16. This renders it possible to communicate through the floor56 to an underlying chase without special attention to the location offloor joists or other interfering structure. This is important not onlyfor mechanical and electrical runs, but also for convenience in locatingregisters such as illustrated at 62. Since the entire chamber 58 becomesa warm or cool air duct, the registers for the heating andair-conditioning system may be located virtually wherever desiredwithout regard to cost or pressure loss considerations. Furthermore, anadded feature of this arrangement is that the floor remains at aconstant temperature selected by the inhabitant. Possible freezing ofwater lines in winter is positively prevented since plumbing runs will,of course, lie in the chases in the heated air environment.

.Due to the structural footing spread provided by the base grid,excessive loading of the members is possible on unsubstantial soil suchas fill, sand, tundra, and ground of bog type consistency. Furthermore,as discussed above, the air pockets formed within each of the cavities52 contribute to the load resistance of the members 10 and, inparticular, provide resistance to settling when moist conditions arepresent in the underlying earth 36.

Fabrication of the structure above the foundation system is facilitatedby the monolithic ceiling members 10a and the raceways provided for theconvenient and rapid installation of interior walls, such as illustratedwith respect to the wall 64 (FIG. 4). The interior wall 64 is of asandwich construction and utilizes a foam core faced with paneling. Thissame general construction is employed for the outer wall 60, except thata weather resistant substance would be utilized for the outer skin, suchas a sheet of suitable synthetic resin material. The generalconstruction approach is utilized for the roof in that, here again,plastic sheet material is advantageously employed for the roof skin 74.However, it should be understood that the members 10 and 10a may beemployed with conventional wall and roof designs as well as thepreformed wall and roof panels illustrated, in order to also realize acost advantage and a material increase in the speed and ease ofconstruction.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A building structure comprising:

a horizontal support pad comprising a layer of a fine,

loose soil substance at the surface of the ground;

a monolithic, generally horizontally extending body overlying said padand presenting a compressive loadbearing foundation member,

said body having a base lattice presenting a plurality of openings, anda plurality of spaced apart, raised ele ments aligned with correspondingopenings and projecting upwardly out of the plane of said lattice toprovide a network of intercommunicating chases above the latticeextending horizontally between said elements,

portions of said lattice between said element cooperating therewith todefine a plurality of downwardly facing cavities at respective openings,

said pad extending continuously over substantially the total areabeneath said body,

said portions presenting a network of intersecting, lowermost surfacesof the body engaging said pad and cooperating therewith to sealeach ofsaid cavities individually to trap air therein and establish a pluralityof load-resisting air pockets,

each of said elements presenting a load-supporting surface spaced abovesaid lattice; and

a load structure overlying the load-supporting surfaces, secured theretoand spanning said load-supporting surfaces in nonobstructingrelationship to the underlying chases.

2. The building structure as claimed in claim 1,

said load structure including a floor on said load-supporting surfaces,and having interior space above said floor; and

means in said floor communicating an underlying chase with said spacefor flow of air between the underlying chase and said space, whereby tofacilitate heating or cooling of said space.

3. The building structure as claimed in claim 1,

said elements being hollow to present said cavities extendingtherewithin,

said network of intersecting surfaces defining the mouths of saidcavities.

4. The building structure as claimed in claim 1,

said load structure including a floor on said load-supporting surfaces.

5. The building structure as claimed in claim 1,

each of said cavities having a mouth defined by segments of said networkof intersecting surfaces,

said mouths being closed at the interface of said network ofintersecting surfaces and said pad.

6. The building structure as claimed in claim 5,

each element having a flat top presenting the load-supporting surfacethereof,

said load-supporting surfaces lying in a first common plane,

said interface lying in a second plane beneath said first plane and insubstantial parallelism therewith.

7. The building structure as claimed in claim 1,

the load-supporting surface of each element being of substantiallysmaller perimeter and area than the area circumscribed by the portionsof the lattice from which the element projects,

each of said elements being provided with sidewall structure convergingtoward its load-supporting surface to provide a tapered elementconfiguration 8. The building structure as claimed in claim 7,

said elements being arranged in aligned rows,

said base lattice defining a grid presenting said network ofintersecting surfaces.

9. The building structure as claimed in claim 7,

said load-supporting surfaces being regularly spaced,

the difference between the center-to-center spacing of adjacentload-supporting surfaces and the maximum width of each of said chasesbetween a pair of adjacent elements being relatively small.

10. The building structure as claimed in claim 7,

the sidewall structures of said elements having major concave portionsarcuate in the direction of taper of the elements.

11. The building structure as claimed in claim 7,

each of said elements being of quadrilateral, generally frusto-pyramidalconfiguration and having a fiat top presenting the load-supportingsurface thereof,

said elements being arranged in aligned rows,

said base lattice defining a grid presenting said network ofintersecting surfaces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,089,893 8/1937 Grevulich 522212,534,580 12/1950 Edwards 52136 2,602,323 7/1952 Leemhuis 522202,852,932 9/1958 Cable 52387 3,218,767 11/1965 Stark 526l5 3,479,77911/1969 Ziegler 52144 3,501,878 3/1970 Segal 52-615 0 FRANK L. ABBOTT,Primary Examiner J. L. RIDGILL, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,624,978 Dated December 7 1971 I e Jerald Paul Skinner It is certifiedthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 59, change "latice" to lattice Column 3, line 24, change"resins" to resin Column 3 line 59, change "caviity" to cavity Column 3,line 66, change "insulating" to --insulation Column 4, line 35, after"for insert a Column 4, line 42, change "electorial" to --electrical-.Column 5 line 61, change "element" to --elements- Signed and sealed this3rd day of October 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. RUER'I' GOTTSCHALK A ttesting Officer-Commissioner of Patents U 5 GOVERNMENT PRINUNG OFFICE I969 0-356-334

